2 February 2020 Issue 1,942 Political Affairs Digest A daily summary of political events affecting the Jewish Community Contents Home Affairs Foreign Affairs Holocaust Other Relevant Information Israel Relevant Legislation Consultations Home Affairs House of Commons Written Answers The following two questions both received the same answer Organs: Donors Dan Jarvis (Labour) [8297] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to publicise the changes to the law resulting from the introduction of the Organ Donation (Deemed Consent) Act 2019. Dan Jarvid (Labour) [8298] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish the timetable for the changes to the law following the introduction of the Organ Donation (Deemed Consent) Act 2019 and accompanying guidance and regulations. Caroline Dinenage: The Organ Donation (Deemed Consent) Act 2019 heralds a new system of consent for organ and tissue donation in England, known as ‘opt- out' or ‘deemed consent’. The Government aims for the new consent arrangements to be introduced from spring 2020. Ahead of the new system coming into force, the Government held a 12-week public consultation to seek views on a proposed list of organs and tissues to exclude from deemed consent. The Government Response to the consultation, the accompanying regulations and a Code of Practice for healthcare professionals, prepared by the Human Tissue Authority following public consultation, will be laid in Parliament in the near future, with information about the timetable. To make the public fully aware of the new system of consent, NHS Blood and Transplant launched a communication campaign on behalf of Government in April 2019. Several platforms have been used since then to raise public awareness of the new system, more recently through TV and radio adverts, as well as public advertising with specific targeting of people with different backgrounds, faith and beliefs. NHS Blood and Transplant will continue to work with general practitioner (GP) practices, schools and black, Asian and minority ethnic communities to address barriers to organ donation. 1 https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers- statements/written-question/Commons/2020-01-27/8297/ and https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers- statements/written-question/Commons/2020-01-27/8298/ European Council of Imams: Muslim Brotherhood Andrew Rosindell (Conservative) [7128] To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential connection between the European Council of Imams, launched in Paris in November 2019 and the Muslim Brotherhood. Brandon Lewis: The Government’s review of the Muslim Brotherhood, completed in December 2015 and published on gov.uk, concluded the movement is a secretive organisation and that parts of it – globally – have a highly ambiguous relationship with violent extremism. The Government keeps under review the views promoted and activities undertaken by the Muslim Brotherhood’s associates in the UK in accordance with the five commitments included in the former Prime Minister’s statement to Parliament. The Government continues to stand by the judgments of the review, and we will continue to consider any new evidence on the Muslim Brotherhood’s activities against the UK’s legal thresholds. https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers- statements/written-question/Commons/2020-01-23/7128/ The review referred to above can be read at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment _data/file/486948/53163_Muslim_Brotherhood_Review_-_PRINT.pdf House of Lords Written Answer Hate Crime Lord Browne of Belmont (DUP) [HL554] To ask Her Majesty's Government what specific offences are categorised as a hate crime; and what are the criteria for such categorisation. Lord Keen of Elie: The law responds to hate crime in four ways by: • providing for additional “aggravated” offences with longer sentences in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 if an offender demonstrated hostility or was motivated by hostility based on race or religion. • prohibiting conduct that is likely to stir up hatred on grounds of race, or intended to do so on grounds of religion or sexual orientation in the Public Order Act 1986. • providing for enhanced sentencing under sections 145 and 146 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 if hostility is motivated by any of the five protected characteristics: disability, transgender status, race, religion or sexual orientation; and • providing Sentencing guidelines. Section 125(1) of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 requires that a sentencing judge must follow any sentencing guideline which is relevant to their case. This includes, for example, consideration of whether the offence was motivated by racial or religious hostility, or if it was motivated by or demonstrated hostility towards the victim based on one or more of several of the victim’s characteristics: age, sex, gender identity (or presumed gender identity), disability (or presumed disability) or sexual orientation. The Government have invited the Law Commission to review the law relating to hate crime and to make recommendations to the Government for its reform. The 2 review began in March 2019. Specifically, the Law Commission have been asked to consider the current range of offences and aggravating factors in sentencing, and to make recommendations on the most appropriate models to ensure that the criminal law provides consistent and effective protection from conduct motivated by hatred towards protected groups or characteristics. The review will also take account of the existing range of protected characteristics, identifying any gaps in the scope of protection currently offered under the law and making recommendations to promote a consistent approach. The Law Commission plan to issue a consultation on this matter in early 2020. Further information on the review can be found on the Law Commission webpage at: https://www.lawcom.gov.uk/project/hate-crime/ https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers- statements/written-question/Lords/2020-01-20/HL554/ Crown Prosecution Service CPS data summary Quarter 2 2019-2020 Hate Crime Receipts Pre-charge receipts from the police fell by 21.2% from 2,653 to 2,091. The Q2 RYTD figure of 9,432 compares to 10,749 from 2018/19. Completed Completed prosecutions (across all strands of hate crime) fell from prosecutions 3,110 in Q3 2018/19 to 2,978 in Q2 19/20. The Q2 RYTD figure is 12,085 which compares to 12,828 in 2018/19. Uplifts (Disability For disability hate crime, the proportion of convictions which included Hate Crime) an announced and recorded sentence uplift fell from 35.2% in Q3 2018/19 to 30.1% in Q2 2019/20. Uplifts (general) The proportion of convictions which included an announced and recorded sentence uplift increased from 73.6% in Q3 2018/19 to 78.3% in Q2 19/20, with 75.7% Q2 RYTD. To read the data in full see https://www.cps.gov.uk/publication/cps-data-summary-quarter-2-2019-2020 TOP Holocaust See also the House of Commons written answer on “Religious Freedom” which is included in the “Foreign Affairs” section below. House of Commons Oral Answer Prime Minister’s Questions Carol Monaghan (SNP): Monday was Holocaust Memorial Day, when we remember those who suffered under Nazi persecution. During that dark time, Britain stood out as a beacon of hope, and 10,000 Jewish children came here with the Kindertransport. When the Prime Minister’s Government rejected Lord Dubs’ amendment on unaccompanied child refugees, Britain’s beacon dimmed. Will the Prime Minister now devolve powers over 3 immigration to Holyrood, to allow Scotland to be that beacon of hope? The Prime Minister: The hon. Lady does a disservice to this country’s reputation and record, because not only have we taken 41,000 unaccompanied children since 2010, but the whole country can be very proud of everything that we continue to do to commemorate the holocaust and what took place then. https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2020-01-29/debates/821DAC2A-A644-40CF-86AE- 5D8CB585640D/Engagements#contribution-3F8DB335-9CD3-4D3C-93A1-ACE537DDDAD4 TOP Israel House of Lords Debate Iran: Stability in the Middle East col 1555 Lord Turnberg (Non-affiliated): … Hezbollah has taken over Lebanon and is heavily armed, with 50,000 trained troops and 100,000 missiles hidden in villages in the south, aimed at Israel and probably Jordan. Even more worryingly, Iran has begun fitting sophisticated guidance systems to its ballistic missiles so that they can pinpoint Israeli airports and strategic targets. In Gaza, Hamas is fully armed by Iran, while in Iraq it has managed to infiltrate a huge number of armed units and achieved what it was never able to achieve when Saddam Hussein was in power … … Iran has made no secret whatever that its intention is to see Israel wiped off the map. Its leaders repeat that message every week and we should not mistake that as any desire simply to support the Palestinians. Even if the Israelis and the Palestinians ever came to an agreement, leaving aside Mr Trump’s doubtful “deal of the century”, Iran would still keep up its animosity towards—and plan to remove—Israel. In truth, it seems to care little about the Palestinians; it just wants to get rid of the Jewish state. Iran has its allies at the ready in Lebanon and Gaza and now, most worryingly from Israel’s point of view, in Syria, right on Israel’s northern border. So far, Israel has been surreptitiously reducing Iran’s military capacity there, but it is quite unclear how long that can continue. Israel is surrounded and feels besieged. We should know that all these threats are in addition to the prospect of Iran going all out to develop its nuclear bomb.